Daily Mail - 17.08.2019

Page 92 Daily Mail, Saturday, August 17, 2019

BARGAIN BONANZA

GARDENING: Page 96

I HAD a lot of fun behind the wheel of the

new BMW 3-series plug-in hybrid saloon —

it’s faster, cleaner, more fuel-efficient and

goes further than its predecessor.

I was astonished this electrified version

of the German car giant’s big-selling ‘bread

and butter’ Bimmer will account for one in

four (25 per cent) of the 3-series models

sold in Britain. It combines great driving

performance with pound-saving fuel

economy (138mpg is claimed).

The new twin-turbocharged BMW 330e

(pictured) costs from £37,875 and

comprises a clever 184 hp 2-litre four-

cylinder petrol engine linked to an

electric motor integrated into the eight-

speed automatic gearbox transmission.

This pushes total power up to 252hp —

and its XtraBoost system will whip it up

to a hefty 293hp.

G

ooD news if you’re shop-

ping for a new car deal and

want to save thousands of

pounds in a sluggish

market ahead of the ‘69’

plate change on september 1.

Car firms are slashing up to a fifth off the

price of their vehicles in an attempt to shift

stock — and it’s not always predictable

which marques will offer the biggest

discounts — with premium brands such

as Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and BMW among

f

MOTORING

BY RAY MASSEY

MOTORING EDITOR

G

n

FOR families wanting to

mix cars with stars, all

roads lead to former F1

champion Jody Scheckter’s

Laverstoke Park Farm in

Hampshire next weekend,

August 23 to 25.

That’s where broadcaster

Chris Evans is hosting CarFest

South for a weekend of

vehicles and music.

Celebrities include TV chefs

James Martin and Prue Leith

with performances from Boy

George & Culture Club, Jools

Holland and Rick Astley.

Tickets at carfest.org.

n BRITAIN is the safest EU

country when it comes to

traffic accidents. The

European Commission says

the UK had 28 fatalities per

million residents last year

— far fewer than the 49

average for the 28 EU states

in which 25,000 lives were

lost, up 1 per cent on 2017.

Most dangerous countries

for road deaths are in

Eastern Europe led by

Romania (96 per million) and

Bulgaria (88 per million).

the biggest discounters.

Exclusive new data from

consumer magazine and website

WhatCar? shows French^ car-

maker Citroen has offered the

biggest price cuts on its cars

over the past six months —

averaging 11.75 per cent.

that’s significantly above the

industry average of 7.6 per cent

or £2,595.

Volkswagen — rocked by the

‘dieselgate’ scandal — has

emerged as the second-biggest

discounter, averaging 11.12 per

cent off list price. However, it

has been chopping a whopping

22.62 per cent off the list price of

its £25,495 Volkswagen Passat

1.5 tsi EVo — a saving of £5,767

bringing it down to £19,728.

the German car maker, which

this week unveiled its funky new

t-roc Cabriolet, available next

year, priced from about £25,000

— has also reduced the cost of a

£26,450 touran 1.6 tDi s to

£21,189 — a saving of £5,261 or

19.89 per cent.

Britain’s Vauxhall — now part

of France’s Psa Group including

Citroen and Peugeot — is in

third place offering discounts

averaging 10.52 per cent.

that includes 20.93 per cent or

£4,556 off the price of an outgoing

astra 1.0t ecotEC sri model,

bringing the price down from

£21,765 to £17,209.

there’s also 18.43 per cent or

£2,778 off a Vauxhall Corsa 1.4

energy super-mini down from

£15,075 to £12,297.

Making up the rest of the top

ten discounters are: sEat

(­10.24 per cent), smart (­9.65 per

cent), Mercedes-Benz (­8.70 per

cent), Ford (­8.27 per cent), Volvo

(­8.17 per cent), Mitsubishi

(­7.94 per cent), and BMW

(­7.88 per cent). these ten biggest

discounters account for nearly 50

per cent of all new car sales.

Coming to a road

near you: The

Volkswagen T-Roc

Cabriolet

Pictures: MARTIN MEINERS/

VOLKSWAGEN AG/WILL BAILEY